Biosphere of Orpheus
Despite being a cold inhospitable world several simple life forms thrives on Orpheus. Some have evolved here and some have brought over by accident by comets and more sentient space travelers over the ages. Non-sentient simple organisms Crawlers The protected mountain caves and man made catacombs on Orpheus is home to a number of bacterial species. One of these are the “Crawlers", large and very deadly bacterial mold colonies clinging to the cave- and catacomb walls. Called "Crawlers" because the colonies will often and rather unnervingly shift their position to account for nutrients brought into the catacombs by the storms. The secrete left behind these movements are used to make the drug Apep. The Plague The Plague is a bacteria that has adapted to live in the wind. It will create colonies that ride the storm currents feeding on the water and electricity the storm offers. Well fed bacteria will produce an acid like substance that burns away organic matter. Being attacked by this bacteria is very painful and is similar to an acid bath. This bacteria does not live very long without water making drying it out with heat the most common method of eliminating it. While it is easy to kill this bacteria its environment being the freak storms of Orpheus make it a constant issue and the reason it is unsafe to travel unprotected during any storm. Lyran Black Yeast Black Yeast is a naturally grown fungi on Orpheus. It has similar uses to the more common yeast, but is grown on ice and is more potent. This yeast is about twice as effective and conventional yeast, but is harder to grow. Food it is used in have a distinct bitter taste that has become a signature of Lyran cuisine. Locust A microbial species brought to Orpheus before the Scream, Locusts are a predatory species that feeds on other microbial life forms, making Orpheus a perfect feeding ground. Existing near or attached to the ice that covers large sections of Orpheus’ oceans, Locusts are most often seen when colonies of them grow large enough, appearing as sickly yellow and brown clumps attached to the underside of ice sheets. Locust colonies are harvested and reduced to a near-liquid paste to produce the Lyran/Eridanii drug “Locus(t).” Stormshade Stormshade is an incredibly unusual fungal species brought to Orpheus at some point in its past from an unknown world. Theorized to be some sort of evolved defensive mechanism, Stormshade builds itself into structures that disturbingly resemble small flowers, though not like any species found with Acheron Rho. Stormshade consumes the minimal nutrients found within the soil of Orpheus’ colder, rocky regions, along with whatever may be carried in Orpheus’ rain and snow, and effectively burrows into the ground to produce runner-like systems that extend out to later create more flower-like structures. Stormshade is harvested as one of the key ingredients in the production of the drug “Charismus,” but great care must be taken because breaking the runner networks under the ground can cause irreparable damage to a much larger network of the species. Category:Orpheus